When label printers look for new products or services to offer existing customers, it makes sense to look at your workforce to see what kinds of things will integrate well with the people you already have. This is especially important when you’re on a 3 to 5 year horizon for selling your business.

Sometimes printers forget that the cost of labor is one of their highest expenses, and that entering new markets or offering new products can necessitate bringing in new sales and production employees. It’s strategic, then, to find products and services that can be rolled into your existing operation seamlessly. You might be able to double your output without doubling your payroll.

Here are some thoughts:

Label printing operations bring a unique set of employee skills to the table:

● Solid cross-trained employees
● Experience using a variety of complicated substrates
● Ability to translate often vague customer instructions into workable designs
● Ability to match colors created on jobs printed elsewhere
● Know-how in using supplies efficiently and minimizing waste
● Knowledge in how to correctly package and ship jobs that are vulnerable and could be damaged in transit.

When you look at areas where you might expand your company, think about the strengths of your workforce and your workflow, and look at options that allow you to use those strengths in new ways.

Also, consider that expanding into areas such as, say, custom book printing, might utilize your employees’ production strengths, but it also exposes weaknesses that have to be addressed.

For example, you might need to hire a prepress specialist who has a background in manipulating photographic images. Or, you may need to add and train a production guru who is experienced with all the new substrates.

You can see that there are considerations for diversifying your offerings when you serve a niche that you have built your workflow and staff around.

That’s why, in talking to printers who are successful, I ask about their staffing issues. How long did it take for your team to get up to speed on the new equipment? How receptive were your employees to entering a new niche market that has different needs and quality demands? Did you lose any valuable employees when you entered new markets or added new technology?

For label printers who want to sell their company in the next 3 to 5 years, it’s important not to add a burden to your bottom line. Owners should make sure any new equipment pay for itself quickly, and use existing employees where you can. Be strategic, cross train employees, and build growth incrementally so you always show an upward trend to prospective buyers.


Rock LaManna helps printing owners and CEOs use their company financials to prioritize and choose the proper strategic path. He is President and CEO of the LaManna Alliance, and provides guidance on how to grow a printing business, merge with a synergistic partner, make a strategic acquisition, or create a succession plan. Rock can be reached by email at [email protected].